NCT Hike to the West of Craig Lake State Park
Since we would be traveling out of town to do a group hike on the North Country Trail to the west of Craig Lake State Park last Wednesday, Julie and I would be missing the annual clean up of the Chassell Heritage Center carried out by the board. To make sure we would be contributing to the effort, we stopped by the Heritage Center during the late afternoon the day before to clean the second floor auditorium and the staircases to the second floor.
Early Wednesday morning I would still have time before leaving to help Mat Moore and Steve Spahn move things from the second floor to the basement of the Heritage Center and to remove old storm windows from underneath the stairs so Keweenaw Power and Lite would have space to install the power needed for the stair-climbers which will be installed later in the month.
The hike on Wednesday was a celebration of the recent years’ re-route of the North Country Trail away from US 41 to a more backcountry route to the north. Members from both the Peter Wolfe and Marquette Area Chapters participated in the hike. We started at Craig Lake State Park which is often said to be the most remote state park in the State. Certainly the long, rough, and un-paved road leading to it from US 41 underlines this distinction.
This particular NCT segment is among my favorites because of the rolling topography and geology. There are countless granite glacial erratics to be seen between Craig Lake and Long Lake where we would make our turnaround.
The mosquitoes were not too bad, but they were plentiful in pockets along the way which made a head net a good accessory to have on hand.
At the midway point, the Peter Wolfe Chapter President Connie Julien held a ribbon cutting where the two chapters now intersect on the re-routed trail.
We then took a spur trail to Long Lake where we were able to catch a decent breeze and enjoy lunch.
A pitcher plant was in bloom along the shore.
A group shot of those of us from the Peter Wolfe Chapter who hiked in from Craig Lake State Park.
The dragon flies were in abundance at this location.
On our hike back a good number of us took the .2 mile spur trail down to Teddy Lake. The mosquitoes were surprisingly not bad, but we did not opt for a swim which is our normal course of action at this location.
You can see my GoPro video from the hike on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link:
Thursday was spent making sure we had all the details lined up for the upcoming installation of the stair-climber units at the Chassell Heritage Center and getting the grass cut ahead of a whirlwind trip we would be taking downstate over the weekend.
Friday morning I met up with Keweenaw Power and Lite to let them into the Heritage Center to do their work. After cleaning the cabin for our next Airbnb guests, we would hit the road…but more about that next time!
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